If natural gas fracking is allowed in the Delaware River basin, nearby protected federal lands like the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area will quickly experience the negative environmental impacts, according to a new study.

The Center for Research at the National Parks Conservation Association has examined potential impacts of fracking at seven federally protected sites, including the local recreation area and upper Delaware River. The Delaware River Basin Commission — the four-state and federal agency that regulates water resources in the basin — hasn’t decided whether to lift a moratorium on fracking in the watershed.

“What happens outside the park sometimes is just as important as what happens inside it,” said James Nations, a center scientist who visited Water Gap Park’s Smithfield Beach on Monday. “The river doesn’t care what it carries in. These materials move. The wildlife moves.”

Some wildlife in the recreation area have habitats that extend beyond park boundaries, Nations said. Fluid used in the fracking process could be carried into the park via the river, he added.

“How well protected is the drill hole as it goes through” the water table to deeper depths?” he asked. “I would say the chances of getting that right 100 percent of the time is zero. Mistakes happen.”

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-17, said he has introduced a bill to close the “Halliburton loophole” in the Safe Drinking Water Act that allows the fracking industry to keep secret the chemicals used to extract natural gas from deep underground. Other industries are required to disclose the chemicals they use, he said.

“You only get one chance to get it right,” Cartwright said. “Many of the negative impacts of fracking are impossible to undo.”